1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an amusement game, more particularly to a game of skill and chance where a coin is dropped through a maze. The object of the game is to get the coin to travel through the maze and come to rest on a pedestal spaced above the coin collection surface at the bottom of the game.
The invention came about in order to stimulate customers to donate their change to worthwhile causes. Typically, fund raising money collection receptacles are placed near the cash register in a retail store, with printed advertising, asking the customer to donate. The typical fund raiser does not encourage any user interaction, while the present invention invites the user to try his skill at getting a coin to rest on the pedestal. This user interaction has been found to create more user participation, which in turn results in increased fund raising.
2. Description of the Background Art
Coin drop amusement games have been around for centuries, as witnessed by U.S. Pat. No. 2,345,781 to Wiedemann and U.S. Pat. No. 2,191,150 to Abell.
The game in the U.S. Pat. No. 2,345,781 reference involves a coin being dropped through the mouth of a fluid-filled bottle, wherein the object of the game is to get the coin to land in a shot glass instead of on the bottom surface.
In the U.S. Pat. No. 2,191,150 reference, a coin is dropped through a slot in the top of a container filled with a liquid, and then the container is manipulated in order to try to balance the coin on top of a post extending upward from the bottom of the container.
The patent to Nicholson (U.S. Pat. No. 1,685,291) is representative of the many amusement devices in which a ball is dropped through a series of pins and randomly comes to rest at one of many designated areas.
Other prior art devices, such as Weitzman (U.S. Pat. No. 3,375,912) and Knaier (U.S. Pat. No. 1,303,211) display a coin traveling through a maze for amusement purposes.